Well, I don't think it will matter that much to CSKA. Granted, they are obviously better with him and to me he was their best player this year.

But, they have plenty without him, and even at center they have D. Lavrinovic, Sokolov, and Kaun. So it's not like they are lacking depth at his position.

On top of that, the Greek Basketball Federation made a ruling that the Greek League has to finish before the final four of Euroleague. The federation has control over when the league finishes, even though they don't run the league, due to the training schedule of the national team.

This year FIBA went freaking nuts and scheduled the Olympic qualifying tournament at the start of July, when most of the big European leagues are not finishing until mid to late June.

Imagine if FIBA tried to do that to Team USA - the NBA and Team USA would go insane with rage and probably refuse to even play.

Well, they are doing it to the European teams. So the Greek League has to finish before the final four, which is something completely strange and new.

So, even without Krstic, I think CSKA has the advantage. Because Panathinaikos has to play the 5 game series against Olympiacos before the final four.

I would expect PAO and OSPF to both be completely exhausted teams before they even get to the final four, due to the scheduling.

http://www.eurobasket.com/Russia/bas...?NewsID=268608
CSKA Moscow officially announced that Nenad Krstic (213-C-83) will be back to team practices in the coming days. Krstic, who practices individually, passed the scheduled tests on Thursday. Well-known traumotologists Prof. Andrey Korolev and Prof. Andrey Kardanov confirmed that there is no serious damage to the center's left pinkie toe.

Krstic will miss today's game against Krasnye Krylia. Earlier this week, many European media, including Eurobasket, reported that Nenad Krstic was out with a broken toe, but it seems the injury is not that serious after all. It means that Krstic will definitely be able to help his teammates at the Euroleague Final Four.

Krstic is one of the key CSKA players this season. He has averages of 14.7 ppg and 5.9 rpg in 20 Euroleague games. In Russia, Krstic has added 10.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg per game, while having almost the same numbers in the VTB United league. Krstic joined CSKA last summer, after leaving from the NBA. He split last season between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics. Krstic previously played for Triumph Lyubertsy during the 2008-09 season. He is also an active member of the Serbian National Team.